


heads back, bottoms up, let's get started

by baecobz



Series: in every universe [9]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, College, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, M/M, Partying, Red Bull, Underage Drinking, not rlly more like.. ppl getting drunk tgt and listening to loud music, pregaming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 16:36:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14773248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baecobz/pseuds/baecobz
Summary: between packs of redbull and baskets of empty beer cans, yukhei finds the one person who can make his heart speed up and stop all at once.





	heads back, bottoms up, let's get started

**Author's Note:**

> GUYS. red bull is scary i had a sip once and im nvr gonna drink it again  
> please. do not chug red bull esp not multiple cans!! also if ure gonna drink, esp if ure underage-- pls pls do it safely (i know a lot of fics/other things have ppl drinking like a dozen cans of beer or smthn but that literally doesnt make sense?? even just a few is A Lot)  
> and dont drink red bull and coffee.... its a disaster waiting 2 happen  
> (((also as usual i havent proofread so p l e as e tell me if u catch mistakes n stuff like tht)))

the thing about yukhei is that no matter where he is, he likes to have at least one friend there with him.

it’s easy enough when he always knows someone in his classes or area from sports events, that one science competition he entered last year, some church fundraiser, or whatever else, but on the rare occasions that yukhei doesn’t know anyone, he takes it upon himself to make a friend.

that’s why on the first monday of what he already knows is going to be a miserable class, he starts the semester with two cups of coffee in hand and the hope that whoever he sits next to likes lattes.

he had planned on getting to class a few minutes earlier, preferably so he could get a good seat (on the very end of a row, not quite in the back but far enough that he could doze off and get away with it-- it’s a tried and true spot that has served him well for the past couple of years), but he spills his morning shake on his tshirt and ends up having to change into his backup-cozy sweater.

still, he makes it to class on time, heart beating out of his chest after having literally sprinted over. it doesn’t help that the classroom is nearly full, strangers occupying every seat that yukhei sees. the sight of that alone is enough to make yukhei’s heart rate skyrocket, worry roping its away around his bones and pulling until he finds himself backing away towards the door.

he shakes his head-- he refuses to give up and run away. he’s going to make it through the first class at the very least, and then take it one day at a time. no amount of stress or fear is going to stop him.

it’s during his little pep talk that he spots a single spot, vacant of anyone or their belongings-- it’s closer to the middle of the row, and in the very back of the classroom where yukhei knows professors check if they’re paying attention, but it’s a spot, so yukhei doesn’t complain.

he forces on a smile and trudges through the mess of desks and bags strewn around, offering little  _ excuse me _ s when he has to brush past someone or squeeze behind them.

he makes it to what will probably be his permanent seat for the semester and spots a boy next to him on his phone-- a lot of other people have already started making small talk, complaining about the professor being late or the cramped classroom. normally, yukhei would jump at the chance to join in on a conversation, to add his own anecdotes and sly comments until he’s able to ask them to join him for lunch, maybe, and  _ hey, can i get your number in case i forget to do the reading for this class? _

this time, though, the other mug in his hand is far too warm and the boy beside him is just so  _ quiet _ . yukhei figures that as much as he wants to make friends, everyone else is in the same boat, so he might as well make it easier for the guy who seems too shy to initiate.

with a deep breath, he shrugs his backstrap into a more comfortable position and nudges the guy with his elbow.

“howdy partner, do you mind if i sit here?” yukhei gives what he’s been told is his friend-making grin and points to the empty seat.

“howdy partner?” the boy echoes, and the way his face scrunches up should probably be illegal. it’s cute and soft and probably too much for yukhei’s poor gay heart to handle, but that’d be weird to comment on when they’ve only just met, so he stays quiet. “uh, go for it.” the boy looks like he’s about to say something else, but then he’s clamping his mouth shut and turning back to his phone. well, yukhei figured he’d probably have to work harder than usual to make friends here, anyways. it’s an introductory class, too, so he already assumed it’d be hard to find things in common with anyone else there.

thankfully, the other boy isn’t wearing headphones, so yukhei is able to just talk freely without having to vy for the other’s attention.

“so, you excited for this?”

“did you really just ask me if i’m excited for a 9am lecture on speech composition?” he deadpans, and yukhei laughs. he’d take a snarky seatmate over a quiet one any day; at least this way, he has some way to start the conversation and keep it going instead of having to try to miserably carry it himself.

“you never know.” yukhei settles into his seat and holds out the extra thermos he packed this morning, and prays that this guy likes coffee. “hey, do you want some coffee? i made too much this morning, so.” it’s probably obvious how much he’s lying, but the boy only quirks an eyebrow and smiles.

“that’d actually be great,” he says, “except for the fact that i chugged three red bulls right before you got here, and i think i’d vibrate out of this plane of existence if i have any caffeine.”

yukhei blinks for a moment, taken aback, before his stuttering heart reminds him that he should probably say something if he wants to keep the conversation moving.

“what, you needed a quick wake-up call?”

“no, my roommate and i bought way too many the other week, and they’re going to expire, like, tomorrow, and we don’t want to throw any of them away, so.” the guy shrugs, but he’s grinning as he does it, and yukhei can feel the way his heart just kinda falters and goes  _ oh no _ .

“well, if you need any help, i’m more than willing to donate my time to assist you guys in your noble quest.” he opens up his own thermos and starts to chug, stopping only when the boy next to him laughs.

“i’m mark,” he says, hand outstretched, “and if it’s not going to kill you, i actually have some more with me right now.”

“sweet, i’m yukhei-- and my  _ man _ ,” yukhei crows, “you’re my new favorite person. lay ‘em out, i’m just gonna drink whatever you give me.” mark makes a noise of protest, but he still pulls out a small stack of what must be half a dozen cans of red bull from his bag onto his desk. it takes up more space than yukhei would’ve thought, so he pushes his desk next to mark’s and spreads out the cans evenly between them.

“i’m probably going to die.” yukhei says, and proceeds to chug a whole can. mark stares at him, mouth wide open, and yukhei grins, wiping at his lips with the back of his sleeve.

it feels like a century as mark continues to just gape, long enough that yukhei starts to shift in his spot. was it too much? he’s heard before that he has a habit of meeting people and getting too comfortable with them too soon, so this is probably just that all over again. it’s a bad habit, maybe, but yukhei never really thought it was something awful until his heart was slamming against his chest as mark watched him, eyes wide and voice quiet.

finally, eventually, he speaks up, and yukhei has to pinch himself to focus on him instead of his own heartbeat.

“did you even swallow that?” mark asks, and he sounds-- impressed? “or did you just, like, have it go straight down?”

“i don’t really have a gag reflex, so i can pull stuff like this without a sweat.” yukhei laughs at the contorted expression on mark’s face until his own words catch up to him, and  _ shit _ . “wait, wait, no, that’s not what i mean. like, yeah i don’t have a gag reflex, but i literally only use it for drinking. i’m not an alcoholic though. i drink responsibly. and safely. and well, because i don’t have a gag reflex. oh my god.”

“you’re fine, i get it.” mark giggles through his teeth, like he’s trying to stop himself from laughing and yukhei is so, so torn-- because everything about mark is unbelievably cute, giggling included, but the way mark presses a hand over his mouth makes his entire chest ache. “you must be fun at parties.”

“i like to think so.” yukhei tugs his backpack up so he can grab a pencil instead of having to look at mark. it makes it easier to ignore his racing heart, at any rate. “have you ever pregamed with ksa?”

“like, once? i have a few friends in it.”

“oh, who? i’m not korean, so i’m not a member, but. i have friends in it too, so i hang around there a bunch.” yukhei plasters on his go-to  _ i know i’m rambling but i like to think i’m cute so please don’t think i’m annoying _ smile.

“do you know taeyong? or-- well, i’m close with all the guys that have english names.”

“you know johnny?” yukhei grins, because johnny  _ rocks _ . he mixes drinks like he was born to do it, and he always smiles when yukhei goes for a hug. he lets yukhei rant to him, too, when he’s drunk out of his mind and johnny’s the sole (unfortunate) sober person; although they’ve never been too close, yukhei’s always been grateful to be able to count on him.

“yeah, johnny! he’s like my older brother. we didn’t really get along at first, but we’re super tight now.” mark smiles like he’s just itching to talk more about it, but he doesn’t say anything else. yukhei just smiles back and nods and hopes that one day, they grow close enough for yukhei to hear the rest of the story. “anyways, i stop by there sometimes, mostly to hang out with him or je-- jaehyun. do you know jaehyun?”

“of course i know jaehyun!” yukhei can’t even help but grin when he hears the familiar name. honestly, it’s pretty hard for him to keep track of everyone’s names on campus, especially with the number of foreign names and nicknames falling off his tongue in messy syllables. but jaehyun has always been nice to yukhei, patient even when yukhei had first transferred and struggled to even mumble a greeting. (he probably could’ve said it even back then, but his barely-existent language skills had been stifled beneath a dozen layers of anxieties and insecurities. he had been lucky that jaehyun had been one of the first people he had met, as opposed to some of the others he would eventually bump into.) “jaehyun’s one of the nicest guys i know. he’s my workout buddy sometimes.”

“oh? i’m surprised we haven’t met each other before, then.”

“me too.” yukhei wills for his heart to slow down, just for a moment so he can speak properly, “you should drop by this weekend if you weren’t already planning to. there’s a get together happening since jungwoo’s back from vacation, so you should stop by.”

“i think taeyong’s mentioned it. are you gonna be there?”

“if i say yes, will you come?” yukhei pretends not to hear the double-thump against his lungs when mark laughs out a brief,

“of course.”

instead of responding in usual fashion (ie: fumbling over his words and oversharing and just generally being embarrassing), yukhei cracks open another can of red bull and grins over the rim, his entire body beating and thrumming faster than it ever had.

he’s not super sure if mark had even been kidding when he had said as much, wary of whether or not he should expect to see the bright younger boy among the jumping groups of strangers and vague acquaintances.

as it turns out, that’s when yukhei sees him next, anyways-- relaxed on a couch, looking all too content with his spot sandwiched between dongyoung and taeyong.

yukhei’s already drunk enough not to worry if he’s interrupting; instead, he just squeezes his way through the small groups of people around them and plops down onto dongyoung’s lap.

“hi!” he says brightly, but he probably says it in mandarin or something because taeyong gives him a funny look. dongyoung and mark both still smile at him, though, but then dongyoung is nudging yukhei off and standing.

“don’t drink too much more, cas,” dongyoung yells over the music, “i’m going to go chat with johnny, but i’ll see you around.”

yukhei nods back, letting himself sink back into the worn down couch cushions, not even bothering to press closer to mark when he can simply relax like this.

he closes his eyes, just for a second, but it’s enough to make him feel a hundred times sleepier than he had been just a minute ago. he doesn’t want to sleep, not at the ksa building (after having passed out there almost a dozen times, he kind of feels bad for taking advantage of their hospitality for so long), and certainly not before he’s even gotten a chance to really talk to mark. taeyong’s texting someone on his phone, anyways, so yukhei figures he might as well just go for it and enjoy this could-be moment between them before it fades.

“so,” yukhei hums, letting himself nearly collapse against mark’s side, “what’re you majoring in?”

“social psych. or neuro psych, i haven’t really decided yet.”

“what a smart boy.” yukhei’s fully aware that he’s basically swooning at this point, patting at mark’s cheek like you would a little kid; it’s a little weird, but mark isn’t pushing him off or leaning away, so yukhei rolls with it. mark’s laughter is bright, easy, and quiet enough for yukhei to have the excuse of leaning closer so he can hear mark better.

“what about you?” mark says it easily, like it doesn’t bother him at all to have a half-drunk six foot loudmouth almost falling over into his lap, like he hasn’t gotten tired of yukhei yet.

and that’s the other thing-- with all of the friends that yukhei’s made, he never seems to keep many of them. he figures it’s only a matter of time before he loses contact with jungwoo and dongyoung, but he still hopes they’ll keep in a touch for a bit longer. mark, on the other hand, has already spent more time with yukhei within the first week of knowing each other than most of yukhei’s friends had in a month, but the younger boy makes no signs of stopping or letting go. (maybe it’s because so many of their interactions center around classwork or sorry excuses for studying sessions, but they’re interactions regardless, and yukhei treasures them.)

“i’m gonna do physical therapy,” yukhei mumbles. it’s hard enough to say foreign words, and it always gets more difficult with every sip yukhei has. now, two beers later, every word out of his mouth just feels heavy and completely unfamiliar. mark’s name, however, is a safe bet, and the comfortable way it flows off his tongue is enough to make yukhei’s heart skip a beat.

“that’s  _ so cool _ ,” mark hums, voice barely audible over the pounding bass (dubstep, because jungwoo had seen deadpool and decided it was his new favorite thing to listen to, so of course no one could deny him). mark has to say it right in yukhei’s ear for him to hear, which would be bad enough if it was just about the proximity, but mark is also curling a hand around yukhei’s neck and playing with his hair, so. yukhei thinks he’s pretty justified in saying that he falls in love with mark on the spot. “hey, are you drunk?”

“yeah, i think so.” yukhei says honestly. maybe it’s because he really is drunk, or maybe it’s because he hates the idea of lying to mark-- either way, he finds that it’s easiest to just go with the truth anyways. “are you?”

“ _ so drunk _ ,” mark laughs into yukhei’s shoulder like it’s the funniest thing in the world. and when mark’s laughing like that, what kind of person would yukhei be if he didn’t laugh along? “i wish we had bumped into each other earlier, you know? like we probably should’ve by now. we have all the same friends and everything.” mark’s hand tugs at yukhei’s hair unconsciously, like he’s genuinely upset that they’ve only met recently. that subtle hint that mark really, truly cares is enough to have yukhei’s mind reeling.

there’s an idea that comes along with it, a terrifying, exhilarating idea, that perhaps mark feels the same as yukhei when it comes to this  _ thing  _ between them.

“let’s get out of here.” mark says finally, and yukhei’s far too happy to oblige.

mark pulls him up slowly, holding tight onto his wrist and only relaxing when yukhei moves to hold his hand properly.

it all slows down to moments like this, where mark is glowing even under the dimmest, most broken lights, that yukhei can feel the barely-there music blasting under his fingers but all he can think about is the fact that his heart is frozen in his chest and it’s all because of the way mark smiles at him over his shoulder.

yukhei falters in his steps, nearly stepping on someone’s foot as he fumbles, and it’s enough to bring time back to the present. mark is turned back around, facing front as he tugs yukhei through the crowds and blurry faces.

when they get out to the porch, they don’t really do much of anything; mark makes himself at home on the front steps between the moonlight and yukhei’s side. yukhei busies himself with staring at the stars, which is far easier and more peaceful than thinking about the fact that he’s already embarrassingly whipped for the boy next to him that’s holding his hand so achingly gently.

yukhei’s not used to being treated gently, after all. he’s well versed when it comes to pitying glances and reluctant warmth, but genuine kindness is hard to come by when you don’t know where to look.

(then again, yukhei’s not sure if he needs to look anywhere else when mark seems to be the jackpot.)

“i wish we had met earlier, too.” yukhei says quietly. it’s still only barely distinct thanks to the crickets outside and the music in the house, but he knows mark can hear him regardless. he’s not really sure if it went without saying, yet there’s a part of him that itches to remind mark how grateful he is to know him.

“hey, you know what?” mark digs into his jacket pockets, rummaging around until he pulls out an old pen covered in duct tape and what looks like dirt. “i’m gonna write my number on your hand, so come closer.”

“mark, i’m right next to you,” yukhei giggles when mark just tries to tug him impossibly closer, “and i already have your number. you gave it to me during the first class, remember?”

“ _ oh _ .” the smile falls off mark’s face for a moment before it comes back full force. “oh yeah! okay, i remember.” he reaches down for his own hand, frowning when he realizes it’s still sticky from some point earlier in the night. (jungwoo would later, through fits of laughter, explain that mark had tried to do a handstand and had instead dunked his head in a bowl of chips and his hand in their punch cooler. yukhei was just grateful he was able to hold mark’s non-sticky hand, even if it was at the cost of having missed what was probably the highlight of the evening.)

instead of writing on his hand, mark just tugs at the holes in his jeans and scribbles something on his thigh. it’s a peculiar mix of korean and english that yukhei can’t quite piece together, so he helps mark put the cap back on the pen and peers over in silence.

“what’s that for?” he asks eventually, having resigned himself to not being able to decipher the writing. mark snickers back, pushing at yukhei’s shoulders until he’s leaning back far enough for mark to squint at him.

“i want to remember tonight.” mark says simply, and it’s then that yukhei can make out what he thinks says  _ his hand is warm  _ on his leg. it makes yukhei’s cheeks heat up (more than they already had, anyways), enough for him to lean his head on mark’s shoulder under the pretense of the late night.

“you better not forget.” it’s meant as a joke, perhaps half-humorous and half-serious, but yukhei doesn’t expect the solemn nod that mark gives in response. it’s just another small pointer to the notion that mark cares the same way he does, miniscule but clear, and yukhei’s heart starts to race all over again.

“you can’t forget either.” mark points out what’s likely meant to be a threatening finger, but even in yukhei’s drunken state, he can make out the small smile tugging at mark’s lips that softens his entire image.

“how could i?” he says simply, because he’s sure the way his heart keeps lurching in his chest is a feeling he won’t be able to shake for days.

mark gives him a full-blown smile at that, beaming wide and gorgeous and brighter than any star, and-- well, yukhei  _ definitely _ won’t be able to forget how his entire body seems to go into overdrive at the sight.

as strange and unfamiliar as it is, to have his heart alternating between beating a mile a minute and skipping or changing rhythms with each moment, yukhei figures he can get used to it.

it’s for mark, after all, and there’s nothing he wouldn’t get used to for mark’s sake.

**Author's Note:**

> fun facts abt this universe:  
> -marks roommate is hyuck, and theyre the classic "we were hs friends so we roomed tgt but now the only thing keeping our friendship alive is the fact that we're too tired to hate e/o" (theyre still rlly close dw)  
> -yukheis a lucky boy w a single dorm, but he gets lonely a lot so he doesnt spend much time in his room  
> -yukhei and jaehyun met at the airport when their rides to campus got mixed up and they ended up sharing a ride and chatting  
> -mark still calls jaehyun "jeffrey" sometimes and jaehyun loses a yr off his life every time (he went by it for a whole yr in hs thanks to his spanish class and mark always seems to forget how much jaehyun hates it) 
> 
> when u guys talk to me on [curiouscat](http://curiouscat.me/6woojin) or [twitter](http://twitter.com/woo6in), it seriously makes my day!! it doesnt matter if u wanna chat abt markhei aus or talk abt ur day, i just rlly like talking to u all :')


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